Grey and harbour seals in UK waters face persecution from some fishing interests, bycatch mortality, and the long-term impacts of pollutants accumulated through the food chain.
Seals shot at fish farm installations or salmon rivers experience acute trauma and potentially prolonged suffering from non-fatal wounds. Seals entangled in fishing gear drown as air-breathing mammals unable to surface. Pollution burden in seal populations causes long-term immune suppression increasing disease vulnerability. Seal pups disturbed by human approach abandon their resting places, causing energetic stress and separation from hauling-out groups. Phocine distemper outbreaks cause mass mortality with significant acute suffering.